Rough Edges by Shannon K. Butcher – Dual Review & Giveaway

Rough Edges
Edge #5
by Shannon K. Butcher
Release Date: August 4, 2015
Genre: adult, contemporary, romantic suspense

 

Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / BAM / The Book Depository

Description
In the world of covert operations, Bella Bayne knows how to get the job done. And with her work coming first, her personal life is coming in a distant second. Even though Bella would like nothing more than to ravish the rugged, handsome Victor Temple, she’s his superior so it’s a strictly hands-off affair.

When Bella gets a solid lead on the location of Dr. Norma Stynger—the twisted mind behind Project Threshold—she must team up with Victor if they are to finally bring justice to the madwoman. But when Norma’s daughter risks her life to help the team, Bella is faced with the impossible task of deciding who will live and who will die…

Barb’s Review:

Rough Edges by Shannon K. Butcher is the 5^th book in her wonderful romance suspense series, Edge. When the last book ended, I had thought the next book would be Gage’s story, and he does have a big part in Rough Edges. But Bella is our heroine, and we have waited a long time for her story. Victor Temple is our hero, and he was perfect for Bella, who is damaged goods, thanks to the evil Dr. Stynger.

A brief refresher of this series. Bella is the owner of the Edge agency, who has been since the start of the series trying to find evil doctors, Sage and Stynger, who experimented on young children by brainwashing them. Bella and her team have managed to take care of Sage, but Stynger is still loose.   Bella herself was one of those children, but she has been able to fight off the brainwashing, until Stynger tries to get some of her men to give Bella doses of medicine that will cause bouts of uncontrollable anger. Payton was Bella’s partner at one time, until it was discovered that he knew the truth of what was happening all these years, and now neither Bella nor the team want anything to do with Payton. But since he has connections, and some power, they are forced to still work with him, as he tries to right the wrongs.

Victor is one of the men assigned by Payton to help Bella find Stynger and the victims, as the doctor has created a group of soldiers that are controlled by her. While working with Bella, Victor knows she is desperately trying to find Gage, and her uncontrollable anger keeps popping up. Victor finds himself falling hard for Bella, though she is technically his boss during this assignment. He steps in to help her a few times, and to stop her from losing control.

Gage is now a captive of Stynger, as she is preparing to put an implant into his brain to control him. He meets Jordyn, who is Stynger’s daughter, but she has secretly been trying to help those her mother wants to control escape. It takes Gage a bit to begin to trust her, especially when he sees her put her own life on the line to help him and a young child escape.

What follows is an exciting adventure which follows Gage and Jordyn as they attempt to escape, as well as Victor trying to save Bella from attempts by Stynger’s men to hurt her or to kidnap her. But this is also a romance between Bella and Victor that grew rapidly, despite both trying to fight it. Their chemistry was very hot, and sensual. Rough Edges was an exciting, pulse pounding action filled adventure, as well as having a very sexy romance; the last 1/3 of the book was non-stop action that raced to the climatic ending. I suggest you read this series by Shannon K. Butcher, and you will need to start with the first book.

Sandy’s Review:

NOTE: Some information may be duplicated between reviews

BACKGROUND: The EDGE is a group of elite, military trained personnel who have all been ‘conditioned’ and ‘trained’ as killing machines, and are somehow linked to a 20 year old experimental operation known as The Threshold Project. The Threshold Project was a failure that left many children, who are now adults, on the brink of psychological collapse and physical destruction. The Edge is a private security company backed by Payton Bainbridge (a former member of The Threshold Project), and owner Bella Bayne who search for the victims of Dr. Stynger and Dr. Sage. With the inclusion of female victims of The Threshold Project the Edge series is similar to the premise behind Christine Feehan’s Ghostwalker series.

ROUGH EDGES is the fifth installment in Shannon K Butcher’s EDGE series. This is US government operative Victor Temple, and Edge owner Bella Bayne’s storyline.

Told from third person point of view ROUGH EDGES follows Victor and Bella as they search for Gage Brink-Adam’s brother (Edge of Betrayal #4) –a man who volunteered to return to Dr. Norma Stynger’s labs but is currently MIA and has not checked in with his new employer. What ensues is the hunt for Stynger’s location and the desperate attempts to avoid the assassins sent to take down Bella Bayne.

Bella’s prime directive is to destroy Norma Stynger for the abuse, torture and experiments she performed for close to twenty years in an experiment known as The Threshold Project. Bella is one of Stynger’s victims and she hopes to give assistance to all of Stynger’s former and current subjects. Victor Temple is a member of an elite group of trained personnel who has been contracted to both protect and aid Bella in her search for Gage and other victims of The Threshold Project.

The relationship between Bella and Victor is one of forbidden romance-Victor is on loan from the US government and Bella is technically Victor’s new employer. Their physical and sexual attraction to one another is palpable but Bella is a strong willed, independent and alpha heroine whose history with men is dark, damaged and heartbreaking. Bella refuses to submit to any man’s demands-both in and out of the bedroom. While Bella likes to be in control out in the field, Victor likes control in the bedroom. The $ex scenes are seductive and captivating.

There is a secondary storyline building as it focuses on Gage Brink. Gage has been imprisoned at Stynger’s compound but becomes enamored with Jordyn Stynger-Dr. Stynger’s daughter-and a victim of her mother’s torture and abuse. When Jordyn offers Gage an opportunity to escape it comes with one demand-Gage must take Jordyn with him.

The world building continues to focus on the men and women who have been victimized by Norma Stynger. As Bella searches for the people whose lives have been destroyed by the evil doctor, Bella herself becomes the target of betrayal and revenge. Her relationship with Payton Bainbridge is strained since the revelation of his involvement with the original Threshold Project and his presence continues to eat away at Bella’s calm and in control façade.

ROUGH EDGES is an intense, fast paced and action packed storyline focusing on an experimental project that all but destroyed the lives of everyone involved. The now adult victims must relive the nightmare time and time again but with Bella’s assistance there may be hope to stop the cycle of pain and torture. The premise is suspenseful and will keep you on the ‘edge’ of your seat. The characters are colorful, animated, impassioned and inspiring; the romance is emotional and dramatic. The intrigue and thrilling final scenes are tense and dramatic. Reserve your seat for the next installment of Shannon K. Butcher’s THE EDGE.

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley.

 

Shannon’s publisher is offering a paper copy of ROUGH EDGES to ONE (1) lucky commenter at The Reading Cafe

1. If you have not previously registered at The Reading Cafe, please register by using the log-in at the top of the page (side bar) or by using one of the social log-ins.

2. If you are using a social log-in, please post your email address with your comment.

3. Please ‘friend request and follow’ Shannon K Butcher on Facebook

4. LIKE us on FACEBOOK and then click GET NOTIFICATION under ‘liked’ for an additional entry.

5. LIKE us on Twitter for an additional entry.

6. Please FOLLOW us on GOODREADS for an additional entry.

7. Please FOLLOW us on TSU for an additional entry.

8. Giveaway open to USA only

9. Giveaway runs from August 6 -9, 2015